Cyanocorax cyanomelas
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The purplish jay (Cyanocorax cyanomelas) is a species of bird in the family Corvidae, the crows and jays. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, and as a vagrant to Uruguay. The purplish jay was originally described in 1818 as Pica cyanomelas, mistakenly identifying it as a magpie.
The purplish jay is monotypic. Some authors treat the purplish jay and the azure jay (C. caeruleus) as a superspecies. The purplish jay is 37 to 40 cm (15 to 16 in) long and weighs about 185 to 220 g (6.5 to 7.8 oz). The sexes have the same plumage and both have a tuft of feathers at the base of the bill. Adults have a sooty black forecrown, sides of the head, throat, and upper breast. Their crown is purplish brown that becomes more purple on the nape. The rest of their body is bluish purple with a brownish wash, with the brightest shade on the remiges and uppertail coverts. Their rectrices are a dark violet-blue. As the body feathers wear they become browner and contrast more with the tail than when fresh. The species has a dark brown iris, a black bill, and black legs and feet.
The purplish jay is found in... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amboró National Park | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 2 | Chapada dos Guimarães National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 4 | Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 6 | Iguazú National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 7 | Iguaçu National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 2 | Campo Grande | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Asuncion | 🇵🇾 Paraguay |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bioparque Municipal Vesty Pakos | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 2 | Zoológico de Fauna Sudamericana | 🇧🇴 Bolivia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Purplish Jay sighting in Tambopata National Reserve on a given day, based on 486 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 79th most-seen of the 550 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, March, May, July–August and October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Purplish Jay in Tambopata National Reserve on a given day, against about 10% in February, April, June, September and November–December, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Purplish Jay sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Purplish Jay sightings, Tambopata National Reserve ranks 5th at about 10%. The best odds are in Amboró National Park (Bolivia, about 80%), Chapada dos Guimarães National Park (Brazil, about 40%) and Manu National Park (Peru, about 30%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Purplish Jay is recorded against all the birds logged in Tambopata National Reserve (486 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
